The building maintenance industry is a highly labor-intensive business. Companies that are contracted to clean and maintain buildings are subject to a wide variety of requirements by the contractor and subject to numerous regulations by the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Often, the workers employed by such building maintenance companies can have physical problems which makes it difficult to lift heavy loads.
During normal building maintenance activities, it is very difficult to know the weight of material within a trash container until the liner bag has been lifted. If the liner bag is excessively heavy, then an injury can occur to the body of the worker before the worker realizes how much weight is actually in the bag. Injuries to the building maintenance workers cause a great deal of difficulty to the maintenance companies. Normally, workmen's compensation claims are filed, hospitalization may be required, and labor time is lost. As such, it is very desirable to avoid a situation in which the workers are subjected to potential injury from the lifting of heavy loads.
It is often difficult for persons that use trash containers to know exactly the amount of weight that has been placed in the container. Often, trash containers are used by a large number of people. As such, even if the person using the trash container were concerned about the well being of the building maintenance employee, it would be difficult to control the amount of material that was received by the liner of the trash container. Normally, trash containers within buildings provide no feedback to the user as to the amount of weight contained in the container.
In the past, various U.S. patents have issued with respect to weight-responsive alarm devices. U.S. Pat. No. 3,559,204, issued on Jan. 26, 1971, to W. Dashber teaches an alarm system for a laundry sling truck that is activated when a certain level of weight is received. In this device, an audio alarm is sounded when the linen deposited in a sling reaches a predesignated weight. The intended purpose of this device is to sound an alarm so as to maximize the capability of filling laundry bags. U.S. Pat. No. 2,836,672, issued on May 27, 1958, to Craven et al. provides a safety device for a waste tank. A signal is sounded when the waste tank of a vending machine is filled with liquids. U.S. Pat. No. 2,879,708, issued on Mar. 31, 1959, to G. H. Cripe provides a weight-activated alarm which is connected to a grease accumulator for a kitchen stove. A signal is produced when grease has been accumulated beyond a desired amount. U.S. Pat. No. 3,082,832, issued on Mar. 26, 1963, to Mitthauer et al. shows a weight-responsive switch which is activated when liquid in a container exceeds a predetermined limit. U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,715, issued on Nov. 21, 1972, to B. L. McNally discloses an alarm for indicating a sudden flow of fluid into or out of a drain. U.S. Pat. No. 3,259,894, issued on Jul. 5, 1966 to A. E. Ciccarone provides a snow alarm which produces a signal when an excessive amount of snow has fallen within a desired area. The alarm is responsive to the accumulation of snow.
One patent has issued in the past which is specifically related to alarms for waste containers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,622, issued on Feb. 12, 1980, to Miller et al. utilizes a strap assembly constructed of a deformable and resilient dielectric material. The strap is adapted so as to extend around the exterior of an upright trash can. This alarm device is specifically configured so as to be indicative of when a trash receptacle is being tampered with by a dog or other animal. It is not designed so as to provide an alarm when an excessive weight is applied to a liner within the trash can.
Additionally, a weight monitor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,778,808, issued on Dec. 11, 1973, to G. S. Stevens. This device utilizes a top surface, a bottom surface, and a pair of resilient springs within the monitor so as to regulate the movement of the surfaces. A load cell is provided for determining the amount of weight placed on the top surface. No alarm is provided for notifying others of an application of excessive weight.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a weight-activated alarm that is adapted for use within a trash container.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a weight-activated alarm which has a relatively broad surface area for receiving wide and uneven loads.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a weight-activated alarm which is generally liquid resistant.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a weight-activated alarm which is easy to use, simple to manufacture, and relatively inexpensive.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.